On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1886 – Amelie Beese, the first female German aviator and sculptor, is born.

1931 – The U.K. wins the Schneider Trophy when Lt. John Boothman completes the course at Calshot Spit in a Supermarine S.6B at 340.1 mph.

1940 – The Imperial Japanese Navy’s Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter scores its first aerial victories when a flight of Zeroes attacks 27 Nationalist Chinese fighters over Chungking and claims to have destroyed all of them; actual Chinese losses probably are 13 to 24 aircraft. No Zeroes are lost.

1951 – Death of Geoffrey Forrest Hughes, Australian World War I flying ace who also served with the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II.

1986 – First flight of the Piaggio P.180 Avanti (shown), an Italian executive transport aircraft with twin turboprop engines mounted in pusher configuration.

2009 – An Israeli Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A Fighting Falcon crashes in the Southern Hebron Hills during military training including a simulated dogfight with another aircraft. The pilot, Capt. Assaf Ramon, the only son of Col. Ilan Ramon (who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003), perished.

Updated: May 10, 2018 — 11:06 AM
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